Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes works the ball around Raven Johnson of the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first half during the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament National Championship at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on April 07, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Caitlin Clark is rewriting a few more lines in the history books during her final college basketball game.
The Iowa star got off to a quick start in Sunday's national championship against undefeated South Carolina while setting some new marks.
Clark scored 18 points during the first quarter, including 13 straight for Iowa during one stretch, to set the record for most points ever in a single quarter of the championship game.
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The NCAA switched game formats from two halves to four quarters in women's basketball in 2016. LSU's Jasmine Carlson held the previous record of 16 points, which she scored against Iowa in last year's title game.
Clark shot 5-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three, and went 5-for-6 from the free throw line while giving Iowa a 27-20 lead after the first.
While doing so, she also passed Chamique Holdsclaw for most career points in the NCAA Tournament with 480 and counting.
NCAAB
Clark was limited to just three points in the second, going just 1-for-6 from the field in the quarter to finish with 21 at the half as South Carolina took a 49-46. She struggled again in the third quarter, scoring just four points on 2-for-7 shooting to bring her total to 25.
What's the most points scored in the national championship game?
Sheryl Swoopes set the record for most points scored in a national championship game with 47 points in 1993 while leading Texas Tech to an 84-82 win over Ohio State. No other women's player has reached the 40-point mark in a title game.
The second-highest scoring total in the women's tournament is 31 points by Arike Ogunbowale in 2019.
UCLA's Bill Walton holds the men's national championship game scoring record with 44 points in 1973.
What is Caitlin Clark's career high?
Caitlin Clark scored a career-high 49 points in February during a 106-89 win over Michigan. She shot 16-for-31 from the field, including 9 of 18 from three, and hit all eight of her free throw attempts.
